


this will never be a good-bye forever

by whitedandelions



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Movie 3: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Spoilers, Weddings, httyd3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 06:11:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17934332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitedandelions/pseuds/whitedandelions
Summary: Toothless shouldn't be here, but he is.  Hiccup can't find it in himself to be upset.Set after the events of HTTYD3.





	this will never be a good-bye forever

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'm still a little fuzzy on where the hidden world is (this is what happens when you cry throughout the whole movie - you forget details) so for the sake of this story, we're going to say the hidden world is ridiculously close :D
> 
> Also, this is a fix-it, but only because I can't leave this 'verse, I really do love the movie in all its entirety, it truly was the most perfect ending to my favorite animated movie series. 
> 
> Also SPOILERS ahead!

 

When Hiccup opens his eyes, all he wants to do is go straight back to sleep.  He knows he can’t; he has _duties_ and after everything that happened with Grimmel, he knows his people would want to see him.  And well…if Hiccup was being honest with himself, he knows it isn’t Grimmel the people are worried about, it’s the fact that their dragons are gone.

After years of getting Berk used to dragons, after building a dragon utopia and finally feeling at peace with who he was, after _Toothless_ …

They’re gone.

Just like that.

And he’s still the runt of the village, the chief who shouldn’t be chief, and he never felt as alone as he did right in that very second.

He rolls off the bed, blindly searching for his prosthetic foot in his grief, and then frowns when he realizes the foot isn’t where he usually leaves it on his nightstand.  He lets out a groan because Toothless _always_ grabs it before he wakes up to use as a chew toy and honestly, even after years of missing a foot walking without his prosthetic is nigh impossible.

“Toothless,” he grumbles, and when there’s no answer, he freezes.

“Oh,” he lets out, trying his best to catch his breath in the panic that ensues after realizing his best bud is _gone._ He squeezes his eyes shut tightly, trying his best not to cry.  He’s cried enough last night, anyway. 

 _He’s_ the one that made the decision to let the dragons go to the Hidden World.  He has no right –

And then he squeaks, because there’s something _very_ disgusting on his lap. He looks down, and then can’t look away.

His prosthetic foot rests in his lap and it’s covered in dragon saliva.

He almost can’t bring himself to look up, hope almost unbearable in his heart, but when he does…

“Toothless?” he can’t help the way his voice shakes, and when Toothless just tilts his head at him, he surges forward, wrapping his arms around his dragon.

This time, the tears can’t be held back, even as Toothless makes a wondering sound and then licks the saltiness away.   “You shouldn’t be here,” he says, as sternly as he can when he pulls away.  It’s not easy, especially since Hiccup had thought just yesterday he would never see him again. 

Toothless just laughs at him, in that special way of his, obviously understanding but not giving a care what he wants.

“I’m _serious_ , bud,” he tries, even though there’s a smile threatening to show on his face, “You belong in the Hidden World.  With the other dragons.”

Toothless stretches in front of him, like a cat, the fins on his back rising to show Hiccup his alpha status. 

“I know you’re the alpha,” says Hiccup, “but you’re supposed to be setting an example!  And the other Vikings would be furious if I get to see you and they don’t get to see their dragons.  It isn’t fair.”

Even as he says the words, he knows a little part of him doesn’t agree, because his bond with Toothless is _different_.  Toothless was his first friend, his _best_ friend, and they belong together.

Toothless flicks his ear at him as if he heard the unspoken words, and Hiccup deflates, reaching out to scratch the top of the dragon’s head.

“Fine,” he says, and stops hiding the way he’s grinning because he _is_ happy.  Toothless smiles back at him, teeth missing and all, and Hiccup wraps his arms around the dragon once more.

They stay like that for a beat, and then there’s a racket outside.  The door opens, pots clank, and then there’s the unmistakable sound of Astrid humming.

He freezes, because Astrid had cried with him last night, had held him tight as they both commiserated about Stormfly and Toothless, and it isn’t fair that Toothless is here, and Stormfly _isn’t_.  He doesn’t know how to tell her, and he can’t move out of the fear of hurting his fiancé.  He can’t bear to see hurt in Astrid’s eyes, and this _will_ hurt and –

Toothless makes the decision for him, bounding out of his arms and straight through the house.

He’s not fast enough, but he follows as quick as he can, and when he sees them, he can’t stop the laughter escaping him.

Astrid’s face is a mess even as she tries to push Toothless away, but she’s _laughing_.  She turns to see him in the doorway, her face exuberant even as she frowns at him.  “Hiccup!” she says, “Get your dragon off of me.”

Even as she gripes at him, she’s scratching Toothless underneath his jaw and Hiccup’s heart soars at the familiar sight.

“You look like you have it handled,” he says, and Toothless flops over, presenting his belly to Astrid and proving Hiccup’s point.

Astrid sighs and then kneels, giving Toothless a belly rub.  Toothless purrs at that, and when Hiccup reaches them, he brushes some of Astrid’s hair out of her face. 

Astrid grins up at him, and there’s no hurt in her eyes.  “When did he come back?”

“Maybe last night?” he guesses, and Toothless makes an agreeable sound.  “You’re not surprised?” he asks when all Astrid does is nod.

“Not really,” says Astrid.  “I mean, I didn’t really think Toothless would listen.”

He narrows his eyes at her, “And you just let me cry it out on your shoulder?”

She jostles him as she stands, her smile as comforting as it always is.  He’s just happy Astrid isn’t upset about Stormfly, and that she’s okay, even though her eyes look puffy.  “I didn’t want to give you hope,” she says, “but come on Hiccup, when has Toothless ever stayed away when he could be here?”

She’s right, because Toothless hadn’t even wanted the flying contraption he made before the Light Fury.  And the last few weeks were a blur, what with Toothless acting differently than he had the whole time Hiccup knew him, and he shouldn’t have let that cloud his judgment.  After all, when did Toothless ever listen to him when he told the dragon to stay away?

He reaches over to give Toothless a belly rub of his own. “You’re the _best_ , bud,” he says with feeling, and relishes in the way Astrid ruffles his hair before going to finish making breakfast.

* * *

The Vikings are not surprised to see Toothless.

“Of course he came back,” says Gobber, dismissive, while they’re working in the shop.  “I would be more worried if he didn’t come back.”

“He should be watching over the others!” he protests and wishes just once that Berk would act like they’re supposed to.  He had taken _hours_ to prepare himself for the villagers’ reactions, certain they would react in anger – he had even practiced a speech in the mirror when Astrid had left with Toothless watching – only to find the Vikings greeting Toothless as they always had. 

“He is,” says Gobber.  “The Hidden World is what, a day’s flight away?  I’m sure he’ll go back to check.”

“I want them to be safe,” he says, helplessly, his eyes going over to look at Toothless happily cleaning himself in the back of the shop.  “We can’t keep them safe here.”

“Look,” says Gobber, putting down his hammer.  “People think our dragons are gone.  We’re only keeping one dragon.”

“The alpha,” he’s compelled to point out, and all Gobber does is shrug at him.

Honestly, sometimes he doesn’t really feel like the Chief around here, not with how much snark he gets in response to his very wise words.

* * *

They work out a schedule.

His mom helps, and while it isn’t very safe for the dragons to come visit, it’s even _worse_ to imagine them all actually listening to Hiccup and staying away so Hiccup just chalks up his decision to one of his worst ones, and just pretends it was his idea all along when the dragons come visit.

Because yeah, they can’t live together.  It isn’t safe to keep all the dragons in one place, and the humans can’t live in the Hidden World, not with the feral dragons residing in there.

But visits? 

Well, that’s a different story.

The first time Hiccup takes Astrid to see Stormfly on the outskirts of the Hidden World, he watches as his fiancé cries in happiness as she buries her face into her dragon’s scales.  Then he kisses those tears away when Toothless takes them back and sits contently in her arms as Toothless flies back to the Hidden World alone.

Because it isn’t a good-bye forever like he thought it was.

It’s just a farewell, and he likes this outcome a lot better.

* * *

Their dragons are at their wedding a year later.  The Light Fury too, with their brood of rowdy pups, and they run amok when the ceremony finally happens.  Toothless gives him a sheepish look as he goes to herd them up, but Astrid’s just laughing even though the ceremony is all messed up now.  She doesn’t wait for the ceremony to continue, instead she grips Hiccup’s very traditional wedding getup in her hand and pulls him close enough to deposit a kiss.

The cheers are wild, even without the dragons joining in, and when Astrid pulls away, leaving him dazed, he rejoices in the way that the dragons are still there, even when just a year earlier he thought their two worlds would be separated forever.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed just as much as I did while writing this - i'm still a mess about this movie, i love astrid and hiccup and their relationship and toothless and god, i don't want to say good-bye


End file.
